docs: def read_table(filename, usecols=(0, 1), sep='\t', comment='#', encoding='utf-8', skip=0):
      """Parse data files from the data directory
  
      Parameters
      ----------
      filename: string
          Full path to file
  
      usecols: list, default [0, 1]
          A list of two elements representing the columns to be parsed into a dictionary.
          The first element will be used as keys and the second as values. Defaults to
          the first two columns of `filename`.
  
      sep : string, default '\t'
          Field delimiter.
  
      comment : str, default '#'
          Indicates remainder of line should not be parsed. If found at the beginning of a line,
          the line will be ignored altogether. This parameter must be a single character.
  
      encoding : string, default 'utf-8'
          Encoding to use for UTF when reading/writing (ex. `utf-8`)
  
      skip: int, default 0
          Number of lines to skip at the beginning of the file
  
      Returns
      -------
      A dictionary with the same length as the number of lines in `filename`
      """
  
      with io.open(filename, 'r', encoding=encoding) as f:
          # skip initial lines
          for _ in range(skip):
              next(f)
  
          # filter comment lines
          lines = (line for line in f if not line.startswith(comment))
  
          d = dict()
          for line in lines:
              columns = line.split(sep)
              key = columns[usecols[0]].lower()
              value = columns[usecols[1]].rstrip('\n')
              d[key] = value
      return d